6 Ways To Prepare Yourself for a Successful Semester

After a six-year-long hiatus, I am finally going back to school. I am equally excited and terrified, but it’s happening, so get ready for lots of school-related posts to keep us on track.

This came after I flirted with going back to school for months. I made several pros and cons lists before I even went through with filling out applications. That was an extremely nerve-wracking experience. I am terrified of rejection, and asking large groups of people if I am good enough for their institution was enough to send me into full-on anxiety attacks.

Let’s fast forward a few months later to the present day. I did the applications, received a few acceptances and registered for classes! Great success! Now I, like many of you out there, will be starting school sometime next week, and I have compiled a list of tasks to help me prepare for a successful semester. I have also decided to share my list with you because I’m generous.

Contents:

How To Have a Successful Semester in College?

It’s very important to have a plan. I will still be working full time and juggling this labor or love along will prerequisites for a nursing program, my relationship with the love of my life and general adulthood.

It’s a lot to keep track of at once, which is why a game plan is equivalent to surviving, let alone having a successful semester. These can be done in any particular order, but I’ve found that these steps help me feel a little more prepared for what lies ahead.

Print out ALL your syllabi.

Your syllabus will be an invaluable tool for surviving this semester. It’s a roadmap to success – it has the professor’s information, their expectations of students, and all assignments, including readings, exams and projects.

Keeping a copy of all the syllabi and referencing it regularly will help you stay on task and keep you abreast of due dates so you can stay focused and get ahead.

Take a personal inventory.

This was a very important part for me. I sat down and made a list of my strengths and weaknesses regarding my work ethic and ability to accomplish tasks. For example, I am a terrible procrastinator. I wait until the very last minute to do everything!

That is a terrible habit, so I have been brainstorming solutions and ways around that. I also love making flashcards and use them regularly. That is a habit I want to encourage. A similar list will show you what areas need work and may help you accomplish more in the long run.

Get organized and find a planning system.

This should go without saying, but a planner will save your life! I use three right now – an Erin Condren Life Planner for home and blog-related planning, a small Day Designer from Target for school-related tasks and a Bullet Journal for just about everything.

Staying on top of due dates and exams will help keep the need for cram sessions at bay and hopefully make everything a little easier. The best part is that planners can be found everywhere and are inexpensive, so there’s no reason not to have one!

Buy supplies and textbooks.

This is my favorite step and my least favorite one. I LOVE stationery – I hoard pens and notebooks, collect highlighters and am generally in love with sticky notes of all brands and shapes. At the bare minimum, I recommend notebooks or binders, pens and pencils, folders, and highlighters.

The sucky part is textbooks because they can be expensive but are a necessary evil and essential to success. I always rent them off Amazon.com – I find the best prices there, and the customer service is top-notch.

Visit the campus and find your classes.

No one wants to be late on the first day of classes, and some buildings are giant. I recommend testing out your commute a few times if you’re commuting so you have ample time to make your classes and find out where specific ones are held, so you don’t get lost the first day. The more steps you can take to weed out all potential hiccups, the better.

Breathe!

College is overwhelming. It can stress us out to no end, so it’s important to take time to find a zen place and breathe. The potential in you is infinite. You can do anything. Go forth and conquer.

These are just a few steps I’ve taken to help prepare for the upcoming semester. Do you do anything in particular? Let me know in the comment section below!

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